WHILE IN RWANDA

To all who follow and support me by reading my blog, thanks a lot you inspire me to write  more. It is been a while since I last posted anything about my trip. So far I am doing great , performing well at TTR work and for that I am grateful.

The last four weeks I have been busy with meetings and stuff, it is strange that sometime I even forget to take a moment and breath.

The parents conference happened on June 3rd. It was a success many parents showed up and were attentive. we started at 8 am and ended at 3pm, of course we hard to provide food and that is one thing Rwandans love! Party with food. I was brave leading the meeting and I can say that God is amazing and so good to me.

Our first staff meeting happened before the official parents conference and we had organized everything as in who will do/say what! I had so many helpers aside from TTR staff. Natalie one of my many friends traveled all the way from Canada and cut her summer fun short so she can volunteer with different events and meetings and with TTR in general, Noela who is my sister in God was there all along and helped a lot. Fabrice and Agnes our college volunteers were around to help as well. Germaine who is always with me every time I am in kigali was suppose to be with us but unfortunately her father had a major surgery and was enable to make it but called to check in and finally Jane my sister in the lord who is on my side all the time. This conference could not have happened without all you volunteers work I can only praise the Lord for that.

I have been meeting parents personally and listening to them and their concerns, it is so amazing how much parents in our programs go through and yet most of them still praise God for his righteousness. I have learned a lot through the years in this country and there is is still so much to learn.

Ten Talents Rwanda staff have been doing amazing job in taking care of other peoples'needs, Honestly if you serve so many people with different needs at the same time you would understand how amazing our staff are. To maintain a good work habit we have established weekly meetings where we meet every Friday morning   and examine what we did in the last week while we plan for the next week, this had helped a lot with everyone in the office and those we serve.

Beside work I have hard friends visiting me, my auntie come over and stayed a night not willingly but she did, she always gives me headache and sometimes I am positive I don't want to see her ever but I love her and it's because of that love that I still let her come visit and drive me crazy anyway. My birth father left a land for me and my lil sister as our inheritance and we have been wanting to sell it so that we can by one near where we are and where we can be able to develop it but my auntie has been difficult on that she thinks it's her brother's land and it should not be sold by his daughters and that she has all the rights to keep the land. We know that it has been in the family for a while but it's so far away and we can not use it for anything we really need to sell it as soon as possible so my sister can do something for her and her daughter. Please pray that God will soften my auntie's heart about this and that she will be able to only mind her own business and let us be.

  My sister and her baby Gwiza came over for one night, I had prayed for this day to come because my sister and I were not in good terms for her poor choices but I have learned that we all make poor choices now and then and I have learned to forgive over the years thanks to my mom! I have forgiven my sister and we both have decided to move on. With that I got to meet my niece Gwiza and picked out her names, what an honour!! Both her and her mother are still struggling with life and need your prayers so that God will guide them through the life.

Natalie, my Canadian friend came over as well and I enjoyed her company for the two days.  my foster nieces and nephews visited me and spent nights on different days! it was a busy week for me trying to play auntie for the weekend! Stacy and her mom Vava come most times to help me clean and cook when I am so busy with the meetings I love having a big sister.

Speaking of a big sister! Vava is doing well to those who know her , she is one of the two mothers in the home of purpose and my older sister she is going through life major event right now and she needs your prayers and support, if you want to now more about Vava please email me on kelly@tentalentsint.org and I will give your the details as it's a private matter.

I want to introduce Jane to all my readers, I met Jane last year through Vava and she has been my friend/sister since then. Jane's parents passed away in genocide when she was so young, she has no idea what her parents looked like but she recently met someone who knew them and told her a brief story about them. now all she has is only their names which she is grateful about.
Jane's whole family were killed and she has been staying with friends for years. Jane has completed high school and is been sitting for 2 years now, she is 22 years old but behind in development both mentally and physically. She has been helping me and as of recent I have had a privilege to detail chat with her and discovered that she has a desire to complete her studies but financially she is unable. If few people put together Jane could be able to complete her studies in 3 years, she has no where to live, she stays with friends most times and she  wishes she could be responsible for her life because she is tired of moving every time. TTR houses only children under 18 years old which means Jane can not fit in them.  I will be helping her with few personal stuff, if you are reading this and you believe in changing the world through women and children join me so we can send Jane to school in September. I will be setting up a Fundme page for her in case you want to only be a one time giver. but Jane can also be sponsored through ten Talents to those who are already partnering with us.
if you wish to know more about Jane please email me and I will give you details.

Thank you for reading, may God bless y'all abundantly
Oh and enjoy the pictures.

Jane and I 

Me and My sis Vava( Mama Stacy)

Esther(TTR bookkeeper) with her baby, Juliet(TTR leader) and Sanyu(TTR cashier) After staff meeting

staff meeting at my home (I got to meet Esther's new baby)

Parents who showed up for the conference

It wouldn't be a meeting without food of course!

we had a large room for everyone to stretch during the meeting

Sanyu greeting parents before we began

Jane serving the meals 

Meal time! happy time for everyone

Juliet speaking to the parents

Waiting for more parents to show up

after the meeting with everyone who attended 

they were all happy for the information they learned on parenting styles 

Everyone including all the volunteers 

Vava,Cici (Stacy ) and I 

We bade farewell to the parent at exactly 2 pm Rwandan time

MEANWHILE IN KIGALI

To all my readers, especially my family and friends, It had been a full week since I arrived in Rwanda, things have been off and on at times. on the afternoon of Monday May 18th my family saw me off at the Portland international airport, amazingly enough there was no tears somehow I knew I was going to make it on my own for two months since this was my second time going away on my own. I arrived to Kigali on May 19th and Robert Mugabe along with my Rwandan family and friends come to pick me up from Kigali International Airport. I was so eager to get out of the airport and start moving around the busy streets of Kigali, just in case you did not know, Kigali has more people on streets than cars! Just as we were getting out of the airport my heart jumped with Joy and happiness I could not believe that I was finally here.

As we were pulling into the gates of my new house for the next two months, I was overwhelmed and overjoyed to the feeling of being the owner and manager of A FULL HOUSE all by myself! and I thought to myself" what am I doing"? but again "I am here, there is no going back" I had so much mixed feeling at the moment. the next day which was a Wednesday of May 20th   I went and got my money exchanged and did some grocery shopping just like a big girl would. 

Although I was finally here in Kigali and happy some things were messed up, firstly my fridge was not working which made my food spoil the next day and as you may understand I was not happy so I talked with my rentee  to do something about it since I was promised a working fridge, she tried to get it fixed but she was not so lucky, unfortunately she had to take it back to the store and exchange it but apparently the store is out and I have been waiting since last week for the new fridge but I am running out of patience right now.

By the time of my arrival, my father's car was not running which made my life a bit difficult, I had no ride to anywhere, and the guy who was suppose to look at it was no where to be found. I was taking private taxi everywhere and it was not cheaper. I finally got hold of the guy who could come and  fix the car and made an appointment with him to which he never appeared. eventually my father worked something out for me to have a car to drive. It took awhile to find the right car with no problems to be fixed. 2 days after my father's car got somehow fixed and I used it to drive the staff of ten talents Rwanda to the bank but I could feel it was not all the way fixed, luckily the mechanic guy knew but wanted me to drive it first and feel the problem. 

My water heater is not working since my arrival, no one knows why so taking shower is been a bit problematic but I am managing. the rentee says someone will come over and look at it but there haven't been anyone, I am learning to be patient with all this on the outside but honestly I am so dying inside with so much things not working properly in the house.

I finally got my visa and I am so happy that I will not be dealing with this anymore, they made it complicated at first but later when I got them everything they require (not mentioned on their website) I had to wait for only 3 days and now I have my visa lasting till July 24th. Praise the Lord for this. As for now I will not cross path with the government offices anymore at least I hope I shouldn't.

I worked in the office yesterday, met some parents and helped few things with staff. I also got a chance to visit one of the girls who transitioned out of the home. Her name is Leah, she gave birth to a super adorable baby girl. I , Sanyu, Vava(my sis) and my other cousin Jane we all went and visited Leah. I was honored to wash the baby and dress it up.

I also visited the home of purpose and  I could not believe all the changes! the home has new couches , new dining room arrangements  and the walls are so decorated. The previous team has done a wonderful job decorating everything and I am very thankful that they did.

For the next few weeks, I will be doing school visits and meetings with different individuals in our program. Our parents-staff meeting will be on June 3rd and we have already booked the place of the meeting. we have worked our budget so that we can be able to feed everyone at the meeting a nice meal.

Thank you for all your prayers.

Decorations On girls home by the team

They also decorated all the girls names and put them up

more names

This is in Vava's room

The rooms looked well organised

 Leah and her daughter Marina Byukausenge

 Me(Kelly) ,Marina(Leah's daughter) , Leah, Vava(my sister), and Stacy (Vava's daughter and my niece) at Leah's house

 The new and well organised Dining room arrangement at HOP

 The dining room

 The sitting room at the home of purpose. the couches are all new and clean.

 Leah with her daughter, Vava with Sacy and Sanyu.

Leah  holding her daughter Marina

 Marina, Leah's daughter

 Me and her Marina( Leah's daughter)

 After Kelly washed her!

Proud mama and Lucky daughter 

In Leah's room 

My parents, nephews and I at the Portland Airport on May 18th

Food and Mattresses to Change Lives of Children in Rwanda

It's been several weeks since I was in Rwanda working with children in Ten Talents Rwanda program. I can never fully explain how blessed I was to spend time with both the At Risk and In Home program. It was a special trip that changed my way of thinking and taught  me how to be appreciative of every little thing in my life.

While I was in Rwanda I got a chance to meet with almost all the kids in our program one on one to see how they are doing, both mentally and physically. Most of these kids are very grateful that ministries like Ten Talents Rwanda exists to help them achieve their dreams. They are very happy that they can go to school, see the doctor when they are sick, eat lunch at school, and for some Ten Talents helps in paying their house rent, which they are also grateful for.

I also discovered through our conversations that although these kids don't get to write letters to Santa or make a Christmas wishlist like many of us do, they do have things they want to ask Santa but they simply can't because they don't believe in miracles. Which is why I am asking that we help all our At Risk children to bring a miracle to them this upcoming Christmas.

Most of the kids told me they are very OK but they wish they had a mattress or food at home. Ten Talents provides most of their needs but to fulfill everyone's needs, especially when you are dealing with many people it's not that easy, but while talking to these kids the common denominator was "FOOD & MATTRESS."

As I was laying in my bed this morning talking to my Lord, I was presented with this question, "WHAT WILL YOU DO?" Usually when I am talking with him, I have this set up where we sit facing each other and usually he asks me to "Just say it" and after that it's me talking non stop how these things are impossible and I talk for hours and then after I am done he always says: IF ALL THESE THINGS SEEM IMPOSSIBLE TO YOU, WHY AM I HERE?

God is amazing for sure.  He doesn't give me all the answers, but as a teacher and a father he gives me the opportunity to come up with answers on my own. On this issue it was very hard to think of an answer, so I answered him in these exact words, "Are you kidding me right now? I don't even have a job yet, how in the world do you expect me to do this?"  After a moment of silence, in his calm voice he asked, "What is your Christmas wish this year? What do you want Santa to bring you this year?"

SNAP!!! There it was!! My answer.  It did not even take that long to find my Christmas wish, it was right there in front of me already. Thanks God, you are amazing in every way. I could wish for the kids and could believe in miracles for them because I have seen miracles happen to me and I believe in them.

So here is my Christmas wish this year: in addition to the backpacks, school supplies, a pair of shoes, an outfit and delicious food provided by our Ten Talents International family and friends, I wish that every child in our At Risk program will receive a mattress, a sack of rice, a sack of beans, and cooking oil.  I know this seems impossible but I believe in miracles, and I really believe that miracles do happen everyday.

If I have done my math correctly, the cost of a mattress and food will be approximately $100-$120 per child. These things can only be purchased in Rwanda since we can't pack them from here, and plus they are cheaper there. I understand its too much, but think about what you will be doing for someone else's life, you will be providing a good night to a child who might have never slept on a mattress before.  Believe me that does happen to some people in Rwanda- a mattress is a big deal. You will be feeding a family across the world at least for a month. Plus it will make you feel good to know that you changed someone's life once upon a time.

Money can be donated through Ten Talents website and we will make sure to send photos after we get all these things to the kids.

Other donations we need for the upcoming trip to Rwanda include:

• Backpacks
• shoes all sizes
• Underwear (both for boys and girls)
• socks
• clothes (boys and girls)
• toothbrushes 
• towels
• bed sheets 
• soccer balls, etc.  

          Unlike mattresses and food, these other things can be purchased (new) here in the USA and dropped off at my house or at church, and I will pick them up and make sure they reach their destination.

The mixture of struggles and blessings of a missionary life in Kigali

Dear family and friends,
Today is the last month of May and I am very grateful that I have made it this far in my journey.
the last two weeks have been intense that I could not stand the feeling of loneliness and stress.
In the last two weeks TTR has dealt with a loss , accidents, and hospitalization. In all this I was around  and watching and to be honest it was very hard for me but I am very grateful that God was with us all along and he helped us and walked us through it all.
I have been meeting the girls mostly every Saturdays and sharing with them, they are all doing great now and attending school as normal.
 Gaudance is a 19 years old girl who just lost her new born baby and as you can imagine she is still grieving but I was surprised to see her smiling the other day and she was talking to me in a normal voice.
she came to me holding her bible, seeing her I could not find any words to tell her so I decided to wait for her to talk and as she looked at me somehow she knew i had no words to say and all of a sadden she asked me "can I go back to school?" I told her yes with out thinking considering it had only been a week since she lost a baby and I asked her to have a seat and talk to me.
she told me "I have been reading my bible and praying just like you and Juliet advised and I believe that God wants me to be happy" i simply said "indeed"
we talked about what she wanted to be in the future and what kind of school she wanted to attend and by the end of our conversation she and I had decided that she will be doing Technical school since she wants to learn how to sew and sewing is not taught in regular schools.
On the same day Gaudance lost her baby and only few hours apart Kimoto(the boys uncle) was involved in accident that left him badly injured and had been in the hospital since them and waiting for surgery.
I was called to come and take him to the Hospital as soon as I dropped off Gaudance and Mama Amani(girls auntie) to a different hospital. I have never in my life had to deal with double injured people and I just busted out and started crying telling Juliet I can't do it, I can do two different things at the same time, I can't deal with death but I realize I was being selfish I was only thinking about myself and my needs and I needed to pray and ask God for wisdom and guidance and with his help I overcame my fears and tried to figure out what to do.
 Kimoto is somehow feeling better but still waiting for surgery in his arm since the cast would fix the broken bones. The boys are doing great in the home of innocence ,It was tough at first to guide them through their usual chores since their uncle was hospitalized, we needed to step in and help them.
Girls are great too ,they now have two live in Aunties and a qualified female security guard. I have been able to help boys with their school work and I love when they ask me to explain something for them it make me feel like I am making a difference in their lives.
After those crisis weeks today I am happy to say I have gone back to normal, I am still conducting the interviews with all the kids and helping in the office where I am needed.
I feel like God has sent me here for a reason and he is still yet to reveal it to me.
I would like to finish this blog thanking some people who haven't left my side and who have been helping either through prayers or financially and love,
Thanks to my parents for always calling to check how I am doing and for everything you do to keep TTR going.
Thanks to my church family for supporting me financially and for praying for my trip I want you all to know I am hanging in and doing what God called me for.
Thanks to Larry and Jeanne Earhart for your generosity giving through my rent. I am very grateful and thankful for your love and care.
Thank you TTI for praying and being with us through prayers during those two intense weeks.
and finally thanks to all TTR staff for being there for the kids and for you love and care towards all the kids in the program.
Special thanks to Juliet Mutamba( TTR child welfare coordinator) for all your over time work and being there for everyone in our program and for keeping up with work and everything.
May God bless you all for your good work, may he keep you safe and may he be there for you as you have been there for his people.
Keep TTR in your prayers as we go through the journey of getting the legal permanence of TTR to keep working in the country as A Rwandan ministry,      

Kelly2Rwanda Update

Hullo,
Dear Friends and family. let begin by apologizing for not posting anything sooner honestly the Internet here is super slow plus the blog people refused me to open it thinking that it wasn't mine.
It's been two weeks since I arrived in Kigali-Rwanda and to be honest my stay has been both  fun and somewhat not so fun.
when I arrived to Kigali International airport on May 3rd I was so excited I was here at last but then my excitement began to fade when I wouldn't find the girl who was suppose to pick me up and take me to where I was to stay. The confusion was that she did not know me and I did not know her so it was hard to find each other.
But my sister Vava and Theogene from the home of innocence were there waiting for me although they had no car to carry my bags so we wondered around for awhile waiting for somebody to show up.
Then finally we spotted my two foster brothers and sister, funny thing is they have been there waiting for me all along but I did not see them and thank God they had a car big enough for my bags. we were at the airport for two more hours waiting for this girl to appear but there was no luck.
I was so tired and I couldn't wait any longer so I decided to go to my sister's place and spend a night there even though she did not have a room for me she agreed to share her bed with me.
That night we had some kind of a welcome party at my sister's place and thank God my phone was still connected to the internet so I send an email to Jamie(the renter) asking to send me a phone number so I can call the girl who was suppose to pick me up. I called her and she directed me to the house I am staying in now.
That Sunday I missed church because I was still settling in. I love the place I am staying in so far Jamie and her friends are so nice, Christians and   they are socially alarmed( kind of crazy like me!!)
My room is big enough for me and I love everything about it.

this is my closet 

My bed

On Monday May 5th   I went to the home of innocence to say Hi to the boys and to begin working with them, it was very fun to hangout with them and talking to them individually. I worked from the office along with Juliet who is TTR child welfare coordinator. I meet with different kids everyday and afternoons I visit their teachers at school and together we talk and see how we can help the kids to succeed well in class. so far I have met with all the teacher who teach the girls from the Home of purpose.

Kevine and Grace (the little girls in the home of purpose)

This is Theogene who came with my sister vava at the airport

Phelomene loves to pose for the photo while other girls think she is stubborn!

Me and the girls enjoying the picture time

this is Nadia with little boys her mother found on her doorstep 

Nadia's new brother

Nadia'a mama and brother

The girls are doing well and happy so are the boys from the conversation I had with them through our interviews ,they are healthy and they have enough security in the home than anywhere else.
I have been driving my dad's car which is bigger and taller than I am but it seems I am doing well with it, only last week on a Saturday and a Sunday I got stopped by the police for no reason. on Saturday in the morning while waiting for the light to turn green this police guy walked up to me and he started asking for the paper work for the car which I did not know where they are kept in the car but I am creative enough I look and found a lot of paper and asked him to look through and find what  he was asking for. he did look through and he found everything he wanted then he told me to go, after almost an hour, I asked him why he stopped me and he simply told me" YOU ARE SO SMALL I DID NOT IMAGINE YOU HAVE ALL IT TAKES TO DRIVE THIS BIG CAR"  and he let me know this was going to happen again with a different police and surprisingly he was right the next morning on my way to church a different cop stopped me and when I asked why he told me the same thing I was told the day before. This is kind of Irritating because they stop me for no real reason when I am on my way to somewhere and it's insulting to call me small all the time. and one of these police suggested I buy at least 2 pillows to sit on, that way I look bigger and taller.
Besides this my tip is been an adventure so far I love doing what I do and I know y'all praying for me.
on my rent I paid for this month only and thanks to my church family and my family for sending me if it wasn't for your generosity this trip would never have happened.  I have one more month of rent to pay.
My rent cost is $350. if anyone wants to help with my rent please talk to my parents Michael and Lisa McColm .
I am very grateful for all your love and care while I am away please keep me in your prayers as I am starting to get homesick.
Much love,
Kelly.
Please excuse the disorganization of the photos!!!

A PORTION OF MY LIFE TESTIMONY: Everything You Need to Make a Difference :Day 2

Everything You Need to Make a Difference :Day 2

A PORTION OF MY LIFE TESTIMONY

10 years ago I had dreams of studying in  America.  I had no idea how, when and why, but I knew that some how God will make away despite what kind of life I was living in. Now like everyone else I had those people in my life who would look at me and think I was crazy for having big dreams but like I always say, "IF IT'S A DREAM I MIGHT AS WELL DREAM BIG".

As years go by I realized that God has granted most of my dreams  I live in America, I have a wonderful family, I go to a nice school and to top it all I am very healthy. God has been so good to me and I can never fully explain how grateful I am.

God blessed me with parents who have a lot to teach me and one of the most important things I have learned from them is to be missionary: to help those in need, and to think about other people's need before mine. It is in that mind as I start these fourteen weeks fundraising journey I remember that God is in control of everything, and that he will make a way.

All I need  is your prayers and your support.

By helping me to keep achieving my big dreams by sending me to Africa, you will not only be helping me but also those I will be serving.

I need to raise a total of $4500 for all my stay for 2 1/2 months in Rwanda which Includes plane tickets, housing, food, and transportation.

I have fourteen weeks till I leave and need at least to raise $46 a day. There is different ways to help: i.e..., you can pray for peace as I plan this whole trip, you can give financially- anything counts $1, $5, $10, $50, or $100 whatever you can. You can also sponsor one of the following by sharing my Dreams in your churches, youth groups, families, and friends.

Plane tickets: $2000
Rent: $600
Food: $1200
Transportation: $600
To make a donation you can give online www.tentalentsint.org (on the Give Today page you can select Mission Trip Project from the drop down menu, once Paypal opens there is an option for Special Instructions, click "Add" and type "Kelly" or any message you want), or you can mail checks to the office of Ten Talents.